1. Priority Claim
This application claims the benefit of priority to filed in the European Patent Office on Dec. 17, 2008 and assigned Serial No. 8425796.3.
2. Technical Field
This disclosure concerns quickly and efficiently implementing a virtual manufacturing network. In particular, this disclosure relates to an efficient and cost effective way to control and monitor the manufacturing processes of multiple geographically separated logistics plants using an electronic production execution system and a data exchange system to implement a virtual manufacturing network.
3. Background Information
In many manufacturing industries, stringent regulation is a key issue. Stringent regulation is a particularly key issue regarding the processes and functions associated with the development, production, and marketing of pharmaceutical products and processed food products. Very strict rules and regulations have been shaped by industry regulatory bodies for such products. Particularly, very strict laws are applied in different countries regarding the development and production of chemical drugs. Indeed, the pharmaceutical industry demands absolute accuracy, and the highest quality standards, together with production flexibility and high productivity. As a consequence, the costs continue to rise to establish accurate documented evidence that provides a high degree of assurance of consistent production. The costs to consistently produce a product that meets predetermined specifications, and quality attributes continue to increase.
Accordingly, many companies are interested in improving and identifying alternatives to the cumbersome manual processes employed to compile batch records during production. Conventionally, paper documentation is widely used to record all the batch information produced across a specific lifecycle. Batch recording procedures are used that are based on conventional information systems referred to as electronic batch record systems (EBRS). Such systems are typically integrated into a conventional enterprise resource planning (ERP) system employing very complex interfaces. Using such systems moves the complexity of conventionally known paper methods of compiling batch records during production from the production cycle to the Information Technology (IT) department, which has the responsibility of integrating various requisite systems. The costs of developing and maintaining such interfaces are very high. Furthermore, conventional record keeping does not address the significant challenges that exist to allowing a company to maintain consistent control and production excellence among multiple geographically disbursed logistics plants. In other words, typical paper based reporting rendered the individual logistics plants difficult to monitor, control, and guide to ensure consistently produced products worldwide.
Therefore, a need exists to address the problems noted above and other previously experienced.